Health News

New target inhibiting the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Date: Aug-19-2013
To stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the early stage, it is necessary to identify new therapeutic targets. Prof. Yunpeng Cao and team from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University examined striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 expression in the brain tissues of Alzheimer's disease rats using in vivo and in vitro models, and analyzed the molecular mechanism by which striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 regulates N-methyl-D- aspartate receptor 2B transport...

First evidence that spaceflight affects community-level behavior of bacteria

Date: Aug-19-2013
When astronauts launch into space, a microbial entourage follows. And the sheer number of these followers would give celebrities on Twitter a run for their money. The estimate is that normal, healthy adults have ten times as many microbial cells as human cells within their bodies; countless more populate the environment around us. Although invisible to the naked eye, microorganisms - some friend, some foe - are found practically everywhere. Microorganisms like bacteria often are found attached to surfaces living in communities known as biofilms...

Insulin pumps 'better than injections' for type 1 diabetes

Date: Aug-19-2013
Researchers say that insulin pumps are more effective at controlling type 1 diabetes in children and cause fewer complications than insulin injections, having completed the longest and largest study of insulin pumps to date. According to the researchers at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Australia, the use of pump therapy has increased over the last 15 years, particularly in children. Pump therapy involves having a catheter placed under the skin to deliver short-acting doses of insulin around the clock...

Braintone has a therapeutic effect on ischemic brain damage

Date: Aug-19-2013
Recently, the importance of the neurovascular unit, which is comprised of neurons, endothelial cells and astrocytes, has received great attention in the field of stroke, because stroke affects not only neurons, but also astrocytes and microvessels. Within the neurovascular unit, endothelial cells are critical for maintaining normal hemodynamic and metabolic homeostasis. Vascular damage during ischemia often leads to the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and dysregulation of vascular tonus, eventually causing substantial cell death...

Improving the diagnostic process in mental health conditions via imaging

Date: Aug-19-2013
What are some of the most troubling numbers in mental health? Six to 10 - the number of years it can take to properly diagnose a mental health condition. Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, a Researcher at Lawson Health Research Institute and a Psychiatrist at London Health Sciences Centre and the Department of Psychiatry at Western University, is helping to end misdiagnosis by looking for a 'biomarker' in the brain that will help diagnose and treat two commonly misdiagnosed disorders...

Protein biomarkers identified that predict time to ovarian cancer recurrence

Date: Aug-19-2013
Ovarian cancer often remains undetected until it is at an advanced stage. Despite positive responses to initial treatment, many patients are at risk of tumor recurrence. A multitude of genetic markers have been implicated in ovarian cancer prognosis. However, the genetic testing required is not practical or affordable in a clinical setting...

Drugs that target FleN could lead to anti-biofilm therapies

Date: Aug-19-2013
The evolution of hyperswarming, pathogenic bacteria might sound like the plot of a horror film, but such bugs really have repeatedly evolved in a lab, and the good news is that they should be less of a problem to us than their less mobile kin. That's because those hyperswarmers, adorned with multiple whipping flagella, are also much worse at sticking together on surfaces in hard-to-treat biofilms...

Good news for people who lose their foveal vision due to macular diseases

Date: Aug-19-2013
When something gets in the way of our ability to see, we quickly pick up a new way to look, in much the same way that we would learn to ride a bike, according to a new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. Our eyes are constantly on the move, darting this way and that four to five times per second. Now researchers have found that the precise manner of those eye movements can change within a matter of hours. This discovery by researchers from the University of Southern California might suggest a way to help those with macular degeneration better cope with vision loss...

Novel biomarker could potentially lead to early detection of liver fibrosis

Date: Aug-19-2013
Chronic liver disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, in part because it often causes the formation of harmful scar tissue - a process known as fibrosis. A study published by Cell Press in the journal Immunity reveals the central role the immune molecule interleukin 33 (IL-33) plays in the formation of liver fibrosis. The findings suggest that drugs targeting this molecule could serve as a new treatment strategy to protect against liver fibrosis...

Preventive Isoniazid therapy should be considered for millions of HIV-infected people globally

Date: Aug-19-2013
As part of the largest international research effort ever made to combat tuberculosis, a team of Johns Hopkins and Brazilian experts has found that preventive antibiotic therapy for people with HIV lowers this group's chances of developing TB or dying. Specifically, they found in men and women already infected with HIV that taking isoniazid reduced deaths and new cases of active TB disease by 31 percent, while new cases of TB alone decline by 13 percent...